Monday, February 17, 2020 by Averil Spence-Clarke | Uncategorized

Hi Everyone:

I wanted to take a moment to say a heartfelt "Thank You" to all the parents and students who have been referring family and friends to the studio.  I am very grateful and humbled by your trust and confidence and will continue to do my utmost to make lessons educational, enjoyable and fulfilling!!

A lot of questions have arisen in regards to the portal and how it works. With so many new families, I thought this would be the ideal time to reprise some of the questions.

1. Each Parent & Student (with the exception of the very young student) is requested to generate an email.   Student notes, Practice Log and Access to the Portal require a Login generated by the individual email.  It also allows me to send specific and general emails.  Parents you will be able to access the student's class notes, practice log etc.  Student are not able to access invoices etc. unless you choose to share that information with them.
2.  Under the Drop Down Menu, parents and students will have access to: the Home Page; Calendar; Contact info.; News (Notifications of Teacher Cancellations, Holiday Closures, Upcoming Events, Extra Classes such as theory etc.); Attendance & Notes ( A listing o all lessons present or absent with a record of teacher notes); Lending Library (will be setup once studio is relocated back downstairs); Online Resources (additional piano, flute & theory assignments, extra worksheets etc.); Practice Log; Email History and  Access to the Website. Parents, in addition you will have an "Account & Invoices" section so that you can check record of lessons given/cancelled, fee structures and balances at any time.
3. All notes for students are made online. This way, parents and students can see what was covered in a lesson, what goals were set and met or otherwise, and what the achievement goals are for the following week.  Using the "Practice Log" students and/or parents can send emails to me during the week if they have questions, have run into a problem(s)  or would like clarification of unclear areas in my notes..
4. Cancellations and makeups: Please note, I may on occasion have to cancel lessons on short notice. There is no charge if a lesson is cancelled by parent/student.  I do appreciate your cancelling as early as possible so that another student may have access to the timeslot.  To cancel, simply go to your Home Page. The Calendar Box should show your "Next Event" and  Below that is the   "X Cancel Attendance".  Follow the instructions from there on in. The portal will notify me as soon as you complete the cancellation process
5. Register for a Makeup or Extra Lesson:  Click on the "Calendar" in the Drop Down Menu.  This will open up the calendar with the "Available timeslots" for that week.  Click on the time that you would like and a box will open confirming the chosen time and a "check mark - Register".  A secondary screen will open that asks if you want to register your child(ren) for the Available Timeslot.  If it is a recurring slot, it will list all the available dates.  Check the one that you would like and click OK  It will then confirm your name, time and date and automatically send me notification of the booking.  
6.  Payments schedules are by choice and governed by what works best for each family.  You can pay weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, quarterly or by specific arrangement.  A Studio Invoice is generated each month regardless of whether you have a balance or not and helps with ensuring that I have not made any "mistakes" with  lessons, charges  etc.  Cash, cheque, ETransfer or Online payments are all accepted. 
7. Music - unless otherwise stated, I will dialogue with parents BEFORE charging new music to a student's account.  Since I am constantly at the music store, I usually pickup the appropriate music and keep it at the studio for purchase as needed.  If you prefer to purchase your own music, please let me know.

This should cover the salient points for the portal and use thereof.  If you have any questions or are experiencing a problem, please let me know at your earliest convenience.  If I am not able to work through the problem, the technicians for the site can and will resolve it ASAP.

Cheers,  Mrs. A.